As my internship at Vencon Research draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on a journey that went far beyond the work itself. This experience has been a profound blend of professional growth, cultural immersion, and personal discovery—all set against the backdrop of an incredible city and an even more incredible continent. The last…

This week at Vencon, I continued refining our Prospective Client Scoring Model while balancing smaller research requests from the senior team. The work has shifted from heavy research to fine-tuning: making sure the framework captures the right criteria, reflects market realities, and is easy to use across teams. Presenting these refinements means I’ve had to…

This week, the journey completely overshadowed the destination. Right after work on Friday, I headed to the train station, excited to meet my roommate in Copenhagen. She’d already arrived earlier that afternoon. I, on the other hand, took the scenic route—two canceled trains and four transfers later, I finally arrived around 3:30 a.m. The ride…

This week didn’t start in Berlin but in Prague, where I reunited with my parents, fresh off their flight from the U.S. I arrived by train at 3 AM—exhausted but alert—knowing they would be nervous navigating a new country. The station was quiet, the streets nearly empty, and I found myself slipping into the role…

I wrapped up another week at Vencon presenting my mid-point progress on the Prospective Client Scoring Model. My fellow intern and I have been pouring everything we have into making the model as precise and useful as possible, driven by that mix of excitement and pressure to deliver something meaningful to the team. It’s been…

After wrapping up a two-day project at Vencon, I took a solo weekend trip to Amsterdam. As soon as I clocked out on Friday, I boarded an overnight ICE train and arrived around 10 a.m. The city immediately captivated me, so effortlessly beautiful. Narrow houses with intricate architecture lined the canals, each bridge adorned with…

Over the long weekend, I traveled to Vienna with fellow members of the Berlin Internship cohort, taking advantage of Pfingstmontag (Whit Monday), a national holiday that provided a day off from work. This trip offered an ideal opportunity to step back from daily responsibilities, explore a new city, and gain fresh perspectives. The train journey…

One aspect of German culture that I’ve found particularly challenging to assimilate into is the country’s strong emphasis on structure, punctuality, and adherence to rules. At Vencon Research, time management is taken very seriously: meetings begin and end exactly on the hour, lunch breaks occur at precisely 1:00 PM, and everyone arrives exactly when they…

Arriving in Berlin has been both exciting and eye-opening. One of the first things I noticed is how seamlessly English is integrated into daily life. Even when someone humbly begins with, “My English isn’t very good,” they often go on to provide a detailed explanation of directions or recommendations that far exceeds expectations. It has…

Hi! My name is Tracy, and I am a senior at the University of Pittsburgh. I am originally from Mobile, Alabama, and currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a double degree in Psychology and Global Management as well as the Frederick Honors College Joint Degree along with a certificate in the…